John Franklin Miller, mayor of Seattle and Washington congressman, was born in 1862 near South Bend, Indiana. He studied law at Valparaiso University in Indiana and was admitted to the bar in 1887. Miller moved to Seattle in 1888 and began practicing law. He served as King County prosecuting attorney from 1890 to 1894 and as deputy prosecuting attorney from 1905 to 1908.
Miller served as mayor of Seattle for one term, between 1908 and 1910; the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, a world's fair held on the University of Washington campus, occurred during his term as mayor. In 1916, Miller ran for Congress, focusing his campaign on issues of military development and expansion. He was a member of Congress from 1917 to 1931, serving on the House Naval Affairs Committee. He was part of a delegation that visited American troops in Europe in 1919. Following his 1932 re-election defeat, Miller returned to the practice of law. He died in Seattle in 1936.